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Post by mukashi on Oct 11, 2006 1:38:42 GMT -5
Anyone live around here? Coming to visit before the end of the year? If so, and you would like to visit Japantown, I can send you a coupon good for $10 off any purchase of $20 or more. It's good in shops, restaurants, etc. www.sfjapantown.org/If interested, PM me and I will send one your way. |
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Post by Altan on Oct 11, 2006 2:06:21 GMT -5
What do you know of Japantown in SF? Basically it was pretty vibrant before WW2 than the internment thing happened. Blacks moved in during the war, as they were a major part of the war recruitment effort. Japanese Americans came back somewhat to regroup but many really didn't come back after the war. Right now that area is a battleground between upper mobile urban Whites and Ghetto Blacks. Most of the Japanese moved on never to return for the safety factor. They left for the suburbs long ago as jobs and peace of mind looked to a better future elsewhere in suburbia.
I'm here in SFC and I can show you around J-Town and can cry sometimes for the love of it. My mother grew me up there and "I Really Love it" for I know the streets that was much a part of who I was in the past with me and my family. I'm 4th generation not really Japanese but Californian. Definately if you want to know J-Town I can guide you toward the basics and more. Though I must add some stuff might not be PC but hard truth? However you take it.
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Post by david on Oct 11, 2006 2:23:55 GMT -5
Japan Town didn’t seem as vibrant in comparison to China Town when I went there. A few streets and just very mall like by and large selling Japanese baubles and cuisine. I suppose I might change my mind when I visit there during an organized cultural event but I won’t be in town this year.
Still, I think it’s great that there is at least a small area of SF where anyone can indulge in some “Japanese” culture*
*read – catered to a very westernised audience
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Post by mukashi on Oct 11, 2006 2:25:49 GMT -5
What do you know of Japantown in SF? Basically it was pretty vibrant before WW2 than the internment thing happened. Blacks moved in during the war, as they were a major part of the war recruitment effort. Japanese Americans came back somewhat to regroup but many really didn't come back after the war. Right now that area is a battleground between upper mobile urban Whites and Ghetto Blacks. Most of the Japanese moved on never to return for the safety factor. They left for the suburbs long ago as jobs and peace of mind looked to a better future elsewhere in suburbia. I'm here in SFC and I can show you around J-Town and can cry sometimes for the love of it. My mother grew me up there and "I Really Love it" for I know the streets that was much a part of who I was in the past with me and my family. I'm 4th generation not really Japanese but Californian. Definately if you want to know J-Town I can guide you toward the basics and more. Though I must add some stuff might not be PC but hard truth? However you take it. I know some things, but would like to know more. The two historical (preservation) societies have their own political slant on history, so to hear it from a local would be great. I know about the drama with the YWCA building but would like to learn more about the post-WWII redevelopment...and what it was like before then. |
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Post by Altan on Oct 11, 2006 3:03:21 GMT -5
I can definatley show you around and all the stuff that has been around for awhile. The Shinto Shrine is interesting and pretty reviered. Got to go in with good intentions and knowledge. The newcomers and such and the old dwellers. It's pretty cool. My favorite Sushi restaurants and basic Japanese food can be found there, beyond the fu-fu and high prices of chic.
I think to really understand the Japanese Community there who have to be there and active in the community for twenty years. They will tell you some things but as Japanese can be they are very cautious with newcomers. As like myself. I won't tell you anything until I know who you are. That's unless they know your Japanese or Japanese American and can prove it. Loyalty is not easily come about. Many trials and tribulations have affect them in the past here in the states and to open up can be painful and a weakness. But once they know you and know WHO you are than you gain there trust than they can tell you unbelievable stories of themselves and the past.
Some of the stuff when I was elsewhere in California taken or forced to community events made me cry sometimes. God unbelievable stuff repressed over many years. It was just storybook or novel material.
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